ABSTRACT
The functions of the first form of caregiving are: to protect people from danger; to soothe and comfort others when they are upset, and also to regulate their level of arousal. The long-term aims of empathic caregiving are described as helping a careseeker to reach a state of mind that enables a seeker to face situations that he or she had sensed as dangerous and be able to plan how best the situation sensed as dangerous might be handled. Dorothy Heard and Brian Lake considered that being sympathetic and empathic are two different but related emotive activities. They considered that Colwyn Trevarthen’s two activities, primary intersubjectivity and then secondary intersubjectivity, illustrate parents and infants demonstrating exploratory interest sharing when they are interacting. They also considered that the exploratory system is different from systems such as the attachment system, by having the capacity to be active always, save during sleep unaccompanied by dreaming.
